Washington Capitals' Alex Ovechkin (8) celebrates his goal against the Ottawa Senators during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Tuesday, March 22, 2016 in Ottawa, Ontario. (Fred Chartrand/The Canadian Press via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT
Washington Capitals' Alex Ovechkin (8) celebrates his goal against the Ottawa Senators during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Tuesday, March 22, 2016 in Ottawa, Ontario. (Fred Chartrand/The Canadian Press via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT Credit: Fred Chartrand—AP

Ottawa — Alex Ovechkin scored his 43rd goal and the Washington Capitals clinched the Metropolitan Division and the top seed in the Eastern Conference with a 4-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night.

Mike Richards, Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie, with an empty net, also scored for the Capitals. Braden Holtby stopped 28 shots.

Chris Wideman and Mika Zibanejad scored for the Senators. Craig Anderson made 18 saves.

The loss will likely fuel the controversy started by owner Eugene Melnyk earlier in the morning when he told reporters changes could be expected during the offseason. Melnyk called the season, “just a total roller coaster of hope and despair.”

The Senators also lost defenseman Dion Phaneuf as he took a hit from Brooks Orpik in the second period. Phaneuf managed to play a few more shifts, but did not return for the third period because of a lower-body injury.

Stars 6, Blackhawks 2

Chicago — Vernon Fiddler scored two of Dallas’ four goals in the first period, and the Stars clinched a playoff spot with a victory over Chicago.

Dallas stretched its win streak to three and improved to 4-1 against Chicago, outscoring the Stanley Cup champions 20-11 in the season series. Colton Sceviour and Patrick Eaves also scored in the first, and Jamie Benn had two assists in his 500th NHL game.

Wild 2, Kings 1

St. Paul, Minn. — Devan Dubnyk made a season-high 38 saves, Minnesota’s penalty kill kept up its strong work and the Wild beat Los Angeles to move back into possession of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Erik Haula and Mikko Koivu scored for the Wild, who have killed 15 straight penalties over the last eight games since March 6.

Canadiens 4, Ducks 3

Montreal — Lucas Lessio scored his first goal in 11 games with the Canadiens and Montreal defeated Anaheim.

Torrey Mitchell, Alex Galchenyuk and Mike Brown also scored for the Canadiens.

Lightning 6, Red Wings 2

Tampa, Fla. — Erik Condra ended a 20-game drought with a pair of goals to lead Tampa Bay past Detroit.

Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov and Ondrej Palat each had a goal and an assist, and Vladislav Namestnikov also scored for the Lightning. Brian Boyle, Tyler Johnson and Victor Hedman added two assists apiece.

Blue Jackets 3 Flyers 2 (so)

Columbus, Ohio — Boone Jenner scored late in the third period and again in the shootout after Cam Atkinson’s tying goal with 8 seconds left, rallying Columbus to an improbable victory over Philadelphia.

Jenner scored in the fifth round of the shootout when he faked goalie Steve Mason out of the net and fired the puck in. Sergei Bobrovsky turned away Sean Couturier moments later to secure the victory.

Jets 2, Canucks 0

Winnipeg, Manitoba — Ondrej Pavelec made 28 saves for his first shutout of the season and Winnipeg beat reeling Vancouver.

Adam Lowry and Mark Scheifele scored Winnipeg. Scheifele’s empty-netter was his team-leading 24th goal of the season.

Sabres 3, Hurricanes 2

Raleigh, n.c. — Johan Larsson scored with 2:49 left and Buffalo rallied to beat Carolina.

Larsson’s winner came a minute after Evander Kane tied it, and Carlo Colaiacovo also scored to help the Sabres earn their third win in five games.

Joakim Nordstrom gave the Hurricanes a 2-1 lead with 6:20 remaining. Chris Terry also scored for Carolina, which has lost five straight.

Chad Johnson stopped 25 shots for the Sabres, while Cam Ward made 22 saves for the Hurricanes.

Kane started Buffalo’s late rally with 3:49 left, taking a pass from Ryan O’Reilly from behind the net and snapping it past Ward. Brian Gionta then took the puck from Jeff Skinner and found Larsson for the winner.